


A Beautiful Day for a Picnic

by feeisamarshmallow



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: B99 Summer 2020 Fic Exchange, Case Fic, F/M, Lighthearted, Picnics, squad shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:00:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26124616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/feeisamarshmallow/pseuds/feeisamarshmallow
Summary: “And what we have here, my friends, is a classic locked-room whodunit.”When the Picnic Games prize goes missing, it’s up to the squad to figure out where it went. Good thing they’re detectives. Too bad the culprit is probably one of them. A b99 picnic-themed casefic.Written as part of the b99 Summer 2020 Fic Exchange for Adele (@kufikiria), who asked for, “the squad gathering together for a summer barbecue/weekend getaway together.”
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 14
Kudos: 37
Collections: Summer 2020 Fic Exchange





	A Beautiful Day for a Picnic

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kufikiria](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kufikiria/gifts).



> Thanks to [MediumSizedEvil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MediumSizedEvil/pseuds/MediumSizedEvil) for the beta, and the wonderful classics pun, and thanks for thethursdaynext for helping me remember Mark’s name!

It’s a perfect day for the annual 99th Precinct picnic. The sun is warm, but not too hot. There’s no hint of rain, and a pleasant breeze drifts through the trees at Prospect Park as Jake and Amy make their way up a wooded path towards a pavilion in a clearing. Amy juggles an 8-month old Mac in a baby carrier on her chest, a blanket, and a set of trivia cards that she insisted on bringing, while Jake carries Mac’s diaper bag, and their contribution of (storebought) cupcakes.

“This year’s my year, Ames, I can just feel it,” Jake says, panting a little with the exertion of walking uphill.

“You say that every year,” Amy responds.

“But this year I really feel it. I think Mac is the good luck charm I need to come back from my humiliating defeat to Charles last year. I’m going to crush at these picnic games.”

“Whatever you say...Mac and I will be rooting for you regardless.” Amy grabs Mac’s hand and gives it a little tug.

More sunlight filters through the trees on either side of the path as they thin out and give way to the cut grass of the clearing. Jake and Amy can see the general hubbub of the picnic up the hill ahead of them, with various officers and support staff gathered around.

“You’re sure you’re cool with watching Mac while I compete? I know you love competition,” Jake says.

“That’s true,” Amy says, “but I think you even said it once—I get all stupid and flustered when we play games. And one of us needs to win that extra day off so we can take Mac to the children’s theatre. The only day I could get tickets for Baby Shakespeare is a Thursday that we’re both on for.”

Jake makes a face that Amy only catches in her peripheral.

“Or...I could take Mac to the new HD director’s cut commentary release of Die Hard 3? That’s pretty much the same as Shakespeare.” He turns to Amy with a goofy grin.

“Jake—”

Amy is cut off by a dog bounding past them. It’s a yellow lab, dragging his leash behind him. In hot pursuit is a bloodhound, with reddish fur, huge paws and floppy ears. Pulling up the rear is Rosa, running full-tilt and yelling after the two dogs. Jake and Amy step off the path to let her through.

“Arlo, I swear to god I will end you. I’ll ship you off to a farm where you have to work for your dinner! I won’t take you on any more W-A-L-Ks!” She bellows as she runs, her hair flying out behind her.

“Don’t worry; she does love her dog.” Jake says, ostensibly to Mac, but mostly as an aside.

Rosa continues hurling insults at her dog as she passes Jake and Amy, and doesn’t notice her phone dropping right at their feet.

“Wait Rosa, your phone—” Jake shouts after her, but she keeps running and disappears around the curve on the path behind them.

Jake bends to pick up the phone. He clicks the power button and pockets it. She’s usually so protective of her phone he honestly feels a bit giddy being able to hold it.

When Jake and Amy arrive at the pavilion where the picnic is held, the rest of the detective squad is already there. Captain Holt is on his cellphone, standing off to the side, gesturing with the one hand not holding the phone. Kevin is behind a charcoal barbecue at the very back of the area, complete with tongs and a punny apron: “Cicero makes my hummus” with a picture of a roman man dipping a chip into some hummus. Cheddar sits quietly at Kevin’s feet, as if in deliberate opposition to the runaway dogs they had passed a few moments earlier.

Hitchcock and Scully have set up lawn chairs right next to Kevin, presumably to be first in line for the barbecue, but have promptly fallen asleep. Underneath the pavilion are rows of picnic tables, some occupied by members of the precinct, but the one in the centre has a portable whiteboard set up on with a list of all the upcoming picnic games. And in front, the coveted prize: a laminated golden ticket on display on a plastic cake stand. Usually Holt stands guard next to the highly-desired Precinct Picnic Games Prize, but the phone call has clearly distracted him.

Terry, Sharon, and their girls are seated on a blanket on the hill beside the pavilion, opposite from where Holt is still on his phone call. One of the twins—either Cagney or Lacey—has a container of bubbles and is blowing bubbles for her sisters to chase down the hill. Other members of the precinct mill around the pavillion and the hill, talking in small groups, seated on lawn chairs or blankets.

Charles, Genevieve, and Nikolaj have just arrived, and they’re still setting down their belongings— a blanket, sunscreen, and no less than 10 tupperware containers of food on one of the picnic tables. Inexplicably, Charles and Nikolaj are dressed in matching outfits with flowing, silken blouses and red bandanas tied around their heads.

“Hey Charles, Genevieve, Niko,” Jake nods as he sets Mac’s diaper bag and the cupcakes down on an adjacent table. “How’s it going?”

“Good!” says Niko. His front teeth have grown in and all of a sudden he looks like a much older kid.

“Good, Jakey,” Charles says. “Genevieve and I brought the most divine pig’s intestines for the picnic.”

“That’s great, pal,” Jake replies before he really takes in what Charles has said. But he doesn’t have time to address the horrors that Charles has brought for dinner, because he’s dying to ask about his clothing choice. “What’s with the matching flamboyant outfits? I know we get to dress cas’ for the picnic, but this is a lot, even for you.”

“I don’t know, what _is_ with the outfits? Wink.” Charles actually says ‘wink’ aloud as he mimes one to Nikolaj.

Nikolaj acts out locking his lips and throwing away the key. Confused, Jake tries to change the subject, but he’s interrupted by Holt’s voice cutting across the pavilion. Charles and Niko slip away, leaving Genevieve to set up their feast.

“That’s simply unacceptable. My husband spoke to you six months ago to confirm our reservations at the Warther Museum Wood Carving Extravaganza,” Holt says.

Holt pauses to listen to the voice on the other end of the phone, and Rosa walks up to the pavilion. Her hair is mussed, and there’s a leaf sticking out of her curls. She triumphantly pulls along a clearly reluctant Arlo on his leash.

“Stupid dog,” she mutters.

“Oh he’s not stupid.” Amy looks up from arranging the cupcakes on a table. “I mean, I’m very allergic to him, so I’ll just, uh, take a few steps back and take some benadryl, but he’s not stupid.”

“Oh, I don’t mean Arlo.” Rosa continues to tug him along, and scoops up one of Amy’s cupcakes from the table. “Although he’s kind of stupid too. I meant that other jerk’s dog. He’s not even trained.”

“Hey, he’s trained. He goes to training lessons every Monday night.” Both Rosa and Amy look up, and find a tall, dark-haired man standing in between them, speaking.

He looks exceedingly nonchalant for someone whose dog has been terrorizing the other canine picnic attendees. He has piercing blue eyes and, bizarrely, golden tennis shoes. He looks familiar to Rosa and Amy as he grabs a cupcake, but they can’t quite place where he works within the precinct.

“Yeah, he’s _being_ trained.” Rosa sizes the man up and crosses her arms with a scowl. “He’s not trained yet. You need to keep your dog on a leash, man.”

The man opens his mouth to respond, but Amy cuts in, “Who are you?”

It’s not the most tactful way to ask, but the question is bugging her and she’s fairly certain he’s not one of her beat cops. Maybe he works in IT.

“I’m Mark—you’re my boss! I’ve been on the squad for 8 years?”

“Ohh so sorry.” Amy immediately blushes and starts fiddling with the edge of her t-shirt. “My apologies. It’s just—we all look so different in our street clothes and...did you get a haircut? It looks great if you did...and...well I had a baby…” She gestures to Mac on her chest. “He’s really cute. Do you want to hold—”

“Don’t apologize Amy,” Rosa cuts in. “His jerk dog chased my stupid dog.”

“The dog’s probably not a jerk...” Amy doesn’t sounds convinced.

“He does steal my shoes.” Mark looks down at his feet, and Amy once again contemplates his truly unique taste in footwear. And that’s considering her husband who takes up a whole wall to store his sneaker collection.

“See? Get lost, Mark,” Rosa says.

“Yeah, get lost, Mark!” Jake takes a few steps towards Amy and Rosa and joins in, effectively creating a circle with them and Mark. Amy and Rosa both glare at Jake. “What? We gotta maintain the inner circle.”

Suddenly Amy remembers Mark, once before, being rejected from what Jake has come to call the “inner circle”. Mark looks crestfallen, and Amy’s about to feel bad for him, when his bloodhound comes bounding through again, weaving in and out of the picnic tables under the pavilion, careening into the picnic games display and knocking over the whiteboard, before almost slamming into Amy. She leaps out of the way, losing all sympathy for Mark, and turns to yell at him.

“I’m allergic to dogs. You need to get your dog on a leash, now. That’s an order!”

He at least has the decency to look apologetic but makes no move to take off after his dog who’s on a beeline to take out the Jeffords’ girls and their bubbles.

“Aha! That’s what I thought.” Holt’s triumphant voice carries across the pavilion and catches the attention of Rosa, Jake, and Amy. He removes the phone from his ear and jams the end call button with gusto. “Why must people be so incompetent?” he complains to everyone in earshot as he walks toward the mess that used to be the picnic games display.

Holt kneels to pick up the whiteboard and the rest of the contents of the knocked-over table. Jake leans over his shoulder to help. It’s not until after they’ve picked up the whiteboard, markers, and plastic cake display that Jake gasps.

“The golden ticket is gone!”

* * *

“No one move.” Jake spreads out his hands, making eye contact with Holt, Kevin, Amy, Rosa, and Mark, who have gathered around him in a circle. “The golden ticket was here a few minutes ago, which means it has to be one of us. And what we have here, my friends, is a classic locked-room whodunit.”

“Except for the fact that we are in an open-air pavilion, with no walls and certainly no doors.” Holt says, expressionless.

“Still counts. This is the best thing that happened to me since that sneaker thief.”

“Didn’t you get assigned a comic forgery case last week?” Amy asks.

“Oh yeah, that one was dope too.”

Jake pauses, and none of the squad move to speak. They all look a little skeptical about the ‘case’ that’s gotten Jake so excited.

“Okay I’ll just say it.” Jake fills in the silence. “Mark probably stole the ticket.”

One by one Holt, then Rosa, then Amy nod, voicing nondescript agreement.

“I didn’t steal the ticket,” Mark exclaims. “Honest, I didn’t. I wouldn’t risk doing anything that pisses off the inner circle. I just wanna be in the inner circle!”

“Do you believe him?” Rosa asks.

“Nope,” Jake says.

They make Mark jump up and down a few times once they’ve forced him to strip to his underwear, but no golden ticket is dislodged. It’s a testament to just how many weird antics the squad gets up to that the rest of the officers barely take notice of the almost-nude man at their picnic.

“Happy?” Mark looks at Jake.

Jake sighs. “I guess he was telling the truth.”

“Can I go get my dog now?”

Jake looks at his bloodhound, who is now chasing Cagney, Lacey, and Ava across the open space.

“Yeah, you should go after your dog. Get a leash!”

Mark takes off at a light jog, still seeming rather unconcerned about his dog.

“So let’s establish the events,” Jake says to the remaining squad members. “When was the last time anyone remembers seeing the ticket?”

“I remember seeing it, but then I got distracted by Charles’ outfit,” Amy says. “Is he supposed to be an 80s hair band member?”

“Huh, I was thinking magician, but you could be right.” Jake nods. “Focus! So did anyone see the ticket after Charles left?”

Rosa, Holt and Kevin shake their heads.

“Charles!” Amy exclaims.

“Someone go find Charles!” Jake tries to rally everyone, but they remain standing still. Holt’s face remains utterly unreadable, while Rosa shifts her weight, keeping her arms crossed.

After a beat, in the same tone of voice, Jake continues, “Fine. I will go find Charles!”

* * *

“I swear I didn’t steal the ticket,” Charles says as Jake leads him and Nikolaj up the hill and back into the pavilion where the rest of the squad is waiting.

“Uh-huh, that’s exactly what the ticket thief would say,” Jake replies as they reach the rest of the squad who, despite their vague indifference, have waited for Jake to return with Charles.

“Honestly, I don’t even want the day off,” Charles continues, panicky. “In fact sometimes Niko says I’m around too much. I’m smothering!” He pauses for a breath before adding, quieter, “It’s the Boyle way.”

“Look here.” Amy takes a step towards Charles and shares a look with Jake. She has committed to this investigation, and that makes Jake smile. Just like a million old cases, Amy’s taking on the Disciplinarian Teacher role that she plays so well.

“I have eye-witnesses that place you at the scene of the—”

On her chest, Mac starts wiggling around and whimpering. She starts to rock up and down on her feet and continues, “....scene of the crime at the last—”

Mac’s whimpers escalate into full-blown tears as Amy tries to finish her sentence “...last time the ticket was seen.”

“Anyone could’ve stolen that ticket! Captain Holt could’ve stolen the ticket!” Charles points towards the Captain.

“Please. I’m your commanding officer. Your petty vacation days mean nothing to me.” Holt is nonplussed.

“Plus he already has a vacation booked,” Jake adds.

That prompts Holt to raise his eyebrows, which on him is a sign of astonishment.

“Sir, you yelled it across the pavilion. Although why you want to use your vacation days to travel to Ohio to learn about woodworking I have no idea.”

“How did you…”

“I know things! I can use google!” Jake feigns indignance.

“Kevin?” Charles continues.

“I am not a member of the NYPD. A golden ticket as a metaphor for a day off has no meaning or relevance to my life. I am much better suited to being the—what did you call me, Raymond? The grill boy?” Kevin looks at Holt, eyebrow raised.

Holt nods, satisfied.

Mac, still strapped to Amy’s chest, continues wailing despite her and Jake’s best efforts to quiet him.

“Jake,” Amy turns to her husband, “I think I’m going to take Mac on a walk, see if I can calm him down. Do you got this?”

“Roger that, Santiago.” Jake points finger guns at Amy as she moves to walk away from the pavilion, still desperately bouncing Mac up and down.

“Wait, how do we know that Amy didn’t do it?” Rosa asks, showing marginally more interest.

“I can’t even tie my shoes with Mac on my chest. How could I have bent over to steal the ticket?” Amy retorts over her shoulder.

Charles contemplates her response, before nodding and gesturing for her to leave. Amy walks down the path, back towards the woods, while Jake takes a step closer to Charles and takes her place.

“So Charles...let me paint you a picture. Last year you win the picnic games. It’s a shocking upset when you beat the reigning champ—Detective Jacob M. Peralta—at the potato toss. You can barely believe it yourself.” Jake paces back and forth in front of Charles, hamming up every movie detective impression he can think of.

“The golden ticket is yours,” he continues, “but soon the paralyzing fear sets in. How can you repeat what truly must have been a fluke? You don’t think you can, and so instead you hatch a plan to steal the golden ticket, using your...magician costume as a distraction.” He screws up his face and raises his voice at the end of the sentence, departing from the movie detective schtick as he takes his best guess at what Charles is supposed to be dressed as.

“It’s not a magician costume!” Charles exclaims.

“Dammit, Amy was right,” Jake says. “80s hair band member?” He raises his shoulders.

Charles just shakes his head, looking sadder with every wrong guess.

“No, Peralta. Clearly Detective Boyle is a Circus Ringmaster,” Holt says.

Charles gives another minuscule head shake.

“Carnival roadie?” Rosa guesses.

Charles takes a deep breath. “I’m a pirate.”

“Wait...what?” Jake says.

“I didn’t steal the ticket, I swear, Jake,” Charles explains. “Niko and I are dressed as pirates. It was supposed to be a secret, but forgive me, bud.” He turns to Nikolaj. “I have to prove my innocence. And besides, I’m a terrible pirate dad. Our costumes don’t even look like pirates. And Niko and I can’t even find any of the gold coins I hid here yesterday.”

By the end of his speech Charles is on the brink of tears.

“So that’s where you disappeared to,” Jake says.

“Dad, it’s okay that we can’t be pirates.” Nikolaj tugs on Charles’ sleeve. “I just like spending time with you. Maybe we can go blow bubbles with Cagney and Lacey instead?”

“Would you like that, bud?” Charles wipes a tear out of his eye and wraps a hand around his son’s shoulders.

Nikolaj nods.

“Can we go? If I see anything about the ticket I’ll let you know,” Charles asks Jake.

“Go ahead Charles, you wonderful…” Jake pauses. “Pirate.”

It appears to be happy tears this time that Charles wipes from his eyes as he envelopes Jake in a hug. Jake pats his back a few times before pulling away.

“Thanks, Jake!” Charles says.

* * *

“So who does that leave? It wasn’t Mark. It wasn’t Captain Holt or Kevin. It wasn’t Amy. It wasn’t Charles. Hitchcock and Scully?” Jake makes a disgusted face.

At that moment Scully snorts and wakes himself up. He elbows Hitchcock awake and they both lean forward in their lawn chairs to join the conversation.

“What’s going on, Jakey? Did someone steal the hot dogs?” Scully looks impossibly alarmed at the prospect.

“Don’t worry Scully, we can eat the emergency hot dogs I keep in my pocket.” Hitchcock reaches around and pulls out two flattened, uncooked hot dogs from his back pocket.

“Mmm, butt-warmed,” says Scully.

Rosa rolls her eyes, and Holt looks stone-faced, which is his version of disgusted.

“No forget it, they could never pull off a heist this good,” Jake says.

“And they were asleep the entire time,” Holt adds.

“Nap time?” Hitchcock looks to Scully.

“But you just woke up?” Jake exclaims.

“Leave them be, it’s easier that way,” Rosa says to Jake.

Hitchcock and Scully settle back in their lawn chairs, disgusting hot dogs forgotten and fallen by their feet.

“So if it’s not Hitchcock and Scully, that means it has to be,” Jake spins around and points a finger, “Rosa.”

Rosa’s scowl deepens, but she doesn’t say anything.

“Rosa has been almost silent this whole time. And she’s been the runner up in the picnic games every year. There’s motive. Skill. And we place her at the scene of the crime.” Jake ticks off each reason on his fingers.

“Watch it, Jake.” Rosa’s eyes narrow, her fingers clenched.

“And…” With a flourish, Jake takes Rosa’s phone out of his pocket. “I know she’s taking a spa vacation next month that she’ll need a day off for.”

Before Jake can explain, Rosa lunges for her phone.

“What the hell, Jake?”

“You had the email confirmation open on your phone!” Jake says, struggling to keep the phone away from Rosa as she puts him in a headlock.

“I already took time off, dummy. Remember the Advanced Weapons Training conference?”

Recognition dawns on Jake’s face as he realizes the “conference” is actually Rosa’s spa day. He stops struggling, which prompts Rosa to relieve some of the pressure she’s been putting on twisting his arm. With a final lunge, Rosa grabs the phone from Jake’s hand. The force pushes Jake backwards, and he falls on his butt.

“How do we know that Jake didn’t steal the golden ticket? He has the most motive out of all of us!” Rosa says, standing over Jake.

In a circle around him, Holt and Kevin nod.

“Wait..no! I’m an innocent man. Rosa, back me up on this! We both got wrongly accused! We know what that’s like!” Jake tries to give her an innocent smile, but it comes out more like a grimace.

“You accused me first,” Rosa says.

“And you stole her phone,” Holt observes.

“I didn’t steal it! It fell out of her pocket while she was chasing Arlo and Mark’s stupid dog.”

Rosa continues to look annoyed, but after hearing Jake’s admission she reaches out a hand and hauls him off the ground.

“Wait wait...Mark’s stupid dog. I know what happened!” Jake exclaims as he gets to his feet. “Gather everyone around. It’s time for the big reveal!”

Rosa, Holt and Kevin still look skeptical, but they’re willing to give Jake a chance.

* * *

Ten minutes later, all the suspects are back gathered underneath the pavilion. Kevin and Holt. Rosa. Mark. Charles and Nikolaj. Only Amy is still missing.

“You expect us to believe that a dog took the golden ticket?” Holt appears to be holding in laughter. “I am unsure Cheddar could pull off that trick, and he has been an invaluable part of the annual Halloween Heist. Unlike this uncultured beast.” Holt gestures at Mark’s dog.

Jake nods. It seems like Holt is disproving Jake’s theory, but he’s actually confirming it. “The dog is clearly out of control; he chased Arlo,” Jake says.

Everyone looks confused, but are intrigued enough that they keep listening.

“But he’s in obedience classes!” Mark splutters.

“Exactly! Because he’s been stealing your shoes, right? Your gold shoes?” Jake says, with the touch of pride that inflates his voice when he’s about to make a big solve.

“What’s that got to do about it?” says Mark.

“This dog is a kleptomaniac with a very particular taste.” Jake points to the bloodhound, now on a leash, lying at Mark’s feet. “He stole the ticket not because he wanted a day off, but because it was gold!”

“Jake…” Charles reaches a hand out towards Jake, clearly unsure about Jake’s theory.

“Hear me out—Charles, you said yourself that you and Niko can’t find any of the gold coins that you planted. You’re not just bad pirates, the dog stole them!”

There’s a beat of silence.

“Well if the dog has been stealing them, where are they now?” Rosa finally asks.

“We set a trap and find out.” Jake looks impossibly excited at this idea. He makes eye contact with Kevin, who glances down at the gold detailing on his apron.

“Surely you don’t mean to sacrifice my apron. It was an anniversary present,” Kevin protests.

* * *

The squad, plus Kevin and Mark, are crouched behind a picnic table. They’ve cleared out a space in the middle of the pavilion and made everyone vacate the area. In the centre of the pavilion sits Kevin’s apron.

At Jake’s cue, Mark lets his dog off the leash. The squad watches as—just like Jake predicted—the bloodhound sniffs curiously at the golden ties on Kevin’s apron. Kevin gasps and covers his mouth when the dog picks up the apron in his mouth. Holt remains stoic, but puts a comforting hand on his husband’s arm.

Suddenly, a voice behind them makes Jake jump.

“Jake!” Amy appears with Mac, now asleep in his carrier.

“Not now, Ames,” Jake whispers, gesturing for her to join them in hiding behind the picnic table. “We’re figuring out where this dog stashed the golden ticket.”

Amy crouches as best she can and says, “that’s what I’m telling you. I found a stash in the woods. The golden ticket. A bunch of golden coins. It’s all there. The dog must be—”

“—a kleptomaniac with a peculiarly golden taste?” 

Amy nods, excited.

At that moment, Mark’s dog takes off at a trot down the hill and towards the forest. The squad jogs behind him, Jake taking the lead, and Amy opting to walk so as not to wake up Mac. 

The dog leads them off the path and into the forest, between two large rocks, over a fallen tree, and down into a small gully. He disappears into a clump of bushes. Jake gets down on his knees and crawls in after him, while the squad waits.

Inside the bushes is a small clearing of hard-packed dirt. On top sits a pile of objects, all gold or yellow. A pile of pirate coins. A yellow bubble wand. A baseball cap. And on top, the golden ticket.

Jake grabs the ticket and emerges, victorious.

“Mark’s dog, you are under arrest for theft of the golden ticket and various other gold and/or yellow items over the past three hours!” Jake drags the dog by his collar back to Mark, who sheepishly puts the dog back on his leash.

“The real question is, who gets the day off now? We’ve wasted the whole day looking for it, there’s no time for the games,” Charles says.

“That’s easy,” Jake says.

Rosa and Amy exchange a look, like they know Jake is going to declare himself the winner, but instead he says:

“Amy deserves the ticket. She found it first! Plus she’s been taking care of Mac all day. And now she’s back at work even though she’s still getting up all the time to feed Mac in the middle of the night. And…” He sighs. “Baby Shakespeare is probably a more age-appropriate event than the re-release of the Die Hard 3 director’s cut commentary in HD.” 

To Jake’s surprise, no one protests. Jake gets down on one knee and offers the ticket to Amy.

“Amy, will you do me the pleasure of accepting this dirty, dog-slobbery ticket and taking our son to a ridiculous Baby Shakespeare show?” 

“I will,” she says, laughing, but her smile is genuine. 

Jake gets up off his knees and shares a brief kiss with Amy, and the squad erupts in spontaneous applause.

* * *

“How did you find the stash, anyways? It’s way off the path.” Jake asks as they all make their way back to the picnic.

“Well, I actually couldn’t stop thinking about the case. And I suddenly remembered the dog running past us and just had a hunch that maybe he was hiding stuff in the woods. You know, like that theft case we worked where it turned out to be a crow stealing the jewellery? So I went looking for his stash.” 

As they arrive back at the pavilion, they find Terry behind the barbecue, cooking hamburgers and hot dogs.

“Where have you guys been? Terry and Terry’s family are hungry!” he says.

“You missed it Sarge, the golden ticket went missing! We had to find it,” Jake says.

“Oh you mean the ticket the dog took?” 

“What?”

“I saw it run past with the ticket in its mouth. I figured you all knew. You gotta keep that dog on a leash, man.” Terry points his spatula at Mark.

By the time Jake and Amy have both dished themselves plates filled with picnic fare—hotdogs, chips, watermelon, cupcakes—Mac has woken up again, but he’s happier now. They’re sitting on a picnic blanket on the side of the hill. Mac giggles as Cagney and Lacey run in front of him, popping bubbles that Nikolaj is blowing. To their left sit Charles and Genevieve, their heads resting on each other’s shoulders. Behind them, Holt and Kevin stand balancing their paper plates, engrossed in some sort of intellectual debate. And down the hill, Rosa plays fetch with Arlo.

The sun has that golden quality of late summer afternoons. The wind blows softly through the leaves and it’s a beautiful day for a picnic. 

**Author's Note:**

> [The museum Holt & Kevin are going to visit is a real place in Dover, Ohio.](https://thewarthermuseum.com/)
> 
> Tell me what you think! Or come say hi on tumblr [@feeisamarshmallow](https://feeisamarshmallow.tumblr.com/).


End file.
